Yemen talks open with prisoner swap deal
We will have a critical opportunity to give momentum to peace process — Griffiths
Yemen’s warring sides have agreed to free thousands of prisoners at the start of crucial peace talks aimed at ending a devastating conflict that has pushed millions of people to the verge of starvation.
Martin Griffiths, the UN special envoy, started shuttling between Al Houthi militants and representatives of the Yemeni government in a picturesque castle just outside Stockholm yesterday morning.
The Arab world’s poorest nation has been gripped by a three-year civil war fought between the Iranian-backed Al Houthis and a government largely backed by Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
“During the coming days we will have a critical opportunity to give momentum to the peace process,” Griffiths told reporters. Griffiths said his initial aim for the talks, the first since 2016, was to secure some confidencebuilding measures including the prisoner swap, the reopening of the airport in the capital Sana’a, and the possible UN administration of the strategic Red Sea port of Hodeida, through which almost 80 per cent of international aid enters the country. The prisoner swap deal would reunite thousands of families, Griffiths said. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said at least 5,000 people would be freed.
Martin Griffiths, the UN special envoy, started shuttling between Al Houthis and representatives of the Yemeni government in a castle outside Stockholm yesterday morning
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Representatives from Yemen’s warring sides sat in the same room in Sweden yesterday as UN-sponsored peace talks got under way, aimed at halting a three-year civil war.
Sweden’s foreign minister, Margot Wallstrom, opened the talks at a castle in Rimbo, a town north of Stockholm, wishing the Yemen adversaries strength to find “compromise and courage” as they embark on the difficult task ahead. “Now it is up to you, the Yemini parties,” she said. “You have the command of your future.”
UN envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, said the coming days were a milestone and urged the parties not to “waver... let us work in good faith ... to deliver a message of peace.”
Griffiths announced the sides have agreed on a prisoner exchange as a first step toward building confidence.
He said both sides have signalled they were serious about de-escalating the fighting through calls they’ve made in recent weeks, and urged them to work to further reduce the violence in the Arab world’s poorest nation, scene of massive civilian suffering.
“I’m also pleased to announce the signing of an agreement on the exchange of prisoners, detainees, the missing, the forcibly detained and individuals placed under house arrest,” Griffiths said. “It will allow thousands of families to be reunited, and it is product of very effective, active work from both delegations.”
UN officials, however, have sought to downplay expectations of the talks, saying they don’t anticipate rapid progress toward a political settlement but hope for at least minor steps that would help to address Yemen’s worsening humanitarian crisis.
Positive signs
Both the internationally-recognised government, which is backed by a US-sponsored and Saudi-led coalition, and the Iran-aligned Al Houthi rebels say they are striving for peace.
The Al Houthi delegation arrived in Stockholm late Tuesday, accompanied by Griffiths. The government delegation and the head of the rebel delegation travelled to Sweden on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the UN food agency yesterday said it is planning to rapidly scale up food distribution to help another 4 million people in Yemen over the next two months, more than a 50 per cent increase in the number reached now — if access can be maintained.
World Food Programme’s spokesman Herve Verhoosel said the “ambitious undertaking” finalises plans in the works in recent months to reach 12 million people with food and nutritional supplements through January, from between 7-8 million now.
The target population includes some three million women and children who need special support to prevent malnutrition.
WFP target population for food supplements through January